Formatting SQL statements, for improving code readability,
and maintainability when the SQL statement is changed , or when fields are
added, is one of the tedious job I need to do during development .
SQL Server still does not have any formatting option - to make
the above statement look better . Hence, I pasted
team as it is , even knowing that Stringbuilder would have done justice , and
maintaining the SQL statement shall be a little difficult compare to the
formatted statement.
Later, while searching for a quick solution to the above, I
came across SQL Pretty Printer. On using it, I found it an amazing tool, which
has the following features.
Main Features
- Formats SQL statements
- Beautifies SQL statements, alomg with customizable templates.
- Converts SQL to various language formats, C#, VB, HTML
- Converts C#, VB, PHP code to SQL; I have only tested with C#, and have seen it working
- SQL Re-factoring / Renaming of Tables and Columns .
The short video below explains the functionalities of the software.
The software comes in three versions ; namely desktop , SQL Server Addin and
Visual Studio Addin.
I have used the Desktop version, and found it very handy
and useful tool, for formatting SQL statements and converting them to relevant
programming language syntax.
My Wish List :
While SQL Pretty Printer does as promised, I have prepared a
small wish list :
- Conversion of SQL to parameterized queries.
- Conversion of SQL to LINQ – converting old SQL statements shall help developers to use LINQ and its functionalties.
